Written by Acorn Sales Company, manufacturing stamps and seals since 1964 · Reviewed by Holly R, VP of Sales and Marketing at Acorn Sales, against the Oregon State Board of Geologist Examiners and Or. Admin. R. 809-050-0000 on 21 September 2026 · Updated 21 September 2026
An Oregon geologist seal is at least 1.5 inches in diameter from point to point, and two separate marks go with it every time. OAR 809-050-0005(1) requires that “After the registrant’s seal has been applied to the original or record copy, the registrant shall place the registrant’s handwritten signature in permanent ink across the seal. The registrant shall write the word ‘Expires’ followed by the registration expiration date directly below the seal.” That second mark is an expiration date rather than a date of signing, and Oregon geology registration renews annually under OAR 809-015-0000, so it changes every year. Never have it engraved.
Get the diameter from the right chapter. The Oregon State Board of Geologist Examiners requires at least 1.5 inches point to point under OAR 809-050-0000(1) and states no prohibition on reducing or enlarging the image. Oregon’s engineering and surveying board requires at least 2 inches under OAR 820-025-0005(2). Same state, different boards, different minimums.
Two geology credentials, two designs. Subsection (1) covers the Registered Geologist and Exhibit 1; subsection (2) covers the Certified Engineering Geologist and Exhibit 2, on otherwise identical terms including the same minimum diameter. The exhibits are not printed in the rule, which closes by noting that “Exhibits referenced are available from the agency,” so ask the board for the artwork that matches your registration before ordering.
Oregon geologist seal requirements at a glance
| Requirement | Oregon rule | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Seal required | Yes | Or. Admin. R. 809-050-0000 |
| Required elements | Your name; Your certificate number; Your registration title; The design shown in the board’s Exhibit 1 for your registration; Across the seal: your handwritten signature in permanent ink; Directly below the seal: the word “Expires” followed by your registration expiration date | Or. Admin. R. 809-050-0000(1) |
| Size and shape | At least 1.5 inches in diameter from point to point. | Or. Admin. R. 809-050-0000(1), (2) |
| Device allowed | The rule speaks of affixing a facsimile of the seal and expressly permits an electronic version: “A Registered Geologist may use an electronic seal that meets these requirements.” The board’s published guidance refers to the device as a stamp. | Or. Admin. R. 809-050-0000(1), (2) |
| Signature and date | OAR 809-050-0005(1): “After the registrant’s seal has been applied to the original or record copy, the registrant shall place the registrant’s handwritten signature in permanent ink across the seal. | Or. Admin. R. 809-050-0005(1), (2), (3) |
| What must be sealed | Final products created in the public practice of geology. | Or. Admin. R. 809-050-0000(3), (4), (5), (6) |
| Electronic seal | OAR 809-050-0005(2) accepts an electronic or digital signature “as allowed by ORS 84.001 to 84.064,” Oregon’s general electronic transactions statute, with four criteria in subsection (3): unique to the registrant, under the registrant’s direct control, verifiable, and including the registrant’s expiration date immediately preceded by the word Expires. | Or. Admin. R. 809-050-0005(2) to (6) |
| Renewal and lapse | Oregon geology registration renews annually, not biennially, under OAR 809-015-0000, with the renewal date being the last day of the month of the initial date of issuance. | Or. Admin. R. 809-015-0000, 809-015-0005, 809-015-0010 |
| Firm requirements | Not applicable. | Or. Admin. R. ch. 809 |
| Regulator | The Oregon State Board of Geologist Examiners | Or. Admin. R. ch. 809 div. 50 (809-050-0000 use of seal, 809-050-0005 signature) and div. 15 (809-015-0000, -0005, -0010), read from the Oregon Secretary of State Administrative Rules database, with Or. Rev. Stat. §§ 672.505 to 672.705 and the board’s professional stamp guidance. Oregon geologists are outside OAR chapter 820 and outside the engineering and land surveying board. |
Is a seal required in Oregon?
Oregon requires the seal on final geology products, and says so in a single opening sentence. OAR 809-050-0000: “A facsimile of a registrant’s seal shall be affixed to final products created in the public practice of geology.” Subsection (1) then requires that “A Registered Geologist shall use a seal bearing the Registered Geologist’s name, certificate number, and registration title, as shown in Exhibit 1 of this rule.” The board’s own published guidance states the same duty plainly: the stamp is required on every final geology product created as part of your public practice.
What must appear on the seal
- Your name
- Your certificate number
- Your registration title
- The design shown in the board’s Exhibit 1 for your registration
- Across the seal: your handwritten signature in permanent ink
- Directly below the seal: the word “Expires” followed by your registration expiration date
Oregon issues two geology credentials and each has its own design. OAR 809-050-0000(1) covers the Registered Geologist and Exhibit 1; subsection (2) covers the Certified Engineering Geologist and Exhibit 2, on otherwise identical terms including the same minimum diameter. The exhibits are not printed in the rule, which closes with the note that “Exhibits referenced are available from the agency,” so the artwork has to come from the board. The element that trips people is not on the seal at all: OAR 809-050-0005(1) requires the word “Expires” followed by your registration expiration date to be written directly below the seal, which is a separate mark you add each time.
Size and shape
At least 1.5 inches in diameter from point to point. OAR 809-050-0000(1) sets that floor for the Registered Geologist seal and subsection (2) repeats it for the Certified Engineering Geologist seal. Note that this is not the 2 inch figure Oregon imposes on engineers and land surveyors under OAR 820-025-0005(2). Same state, different board, different minimum, and unlike the engineering rule this one states no prohibition on reducing or enlarging the image.
Embosser, rubber stamp or digital
The rule speaks of affixing a facsimile of the seal and expressly permits an electronic version: “A Registered Geologist may use an electronic seal that meets these requirements.” The board’s published guidance refers to the device as a stamp. A rubber stamp is the safe buy for signed report copies, with a matching electronic image for digital deliverables.
Signing and dating
OAR 809-050-0005(1): “After the registrant’s seal has been applied to the original or record copy, the registrant shall place the registrant’s handwritten signature in permanent ink across the seal. The registrant shall write the word ‘Expires’ followed by the registration expiration date directly below the seal.” Two separate marks, both mandatory, and the second is an expiration date rather than a date of signing. An electronic or digital signature substitutes under subsection (2) and must still include the expiration date immediately preceded by the word Expires.
Boring logs get sealed individually, and the word Expires goes under the seal every year
OAR 809-050-0000(5) says it in one line: “Final geology work products not included in a compiled report, such as boring logs, shall be individually sealed and signed.” A log handed to a client or an agency on its own is a final product. Only when a log is compiled into a stand-alone report that you sealed does subsection (4) relieve you of sealing it separately, and even then, any product inside that report prepared by someone else must be individually sealed by whoever prepared it.
The second Oregon geology peculiarity is the expiration date. OAR 809-050-0005(1) requires you to sign in permanent ink across the seal and then “write the word ‘Expires’ followed by the registration expiration date directly below the seal.” Oregon geology registration renews annually under OAR 809-015-0000, so that date is new every year. Never have it engraved.
Third, get the diameter from the right chapter. Oregon’s engineering and surveying board requires at least 2 inches point to point. The geologist board requires at least 1.5 inches point to point, and states no prohibition on resizing. The two figures belong to two different boards.
Finally, the number is not guaranteed for life. OAR 809-015-0010 bars restoration after five consecutive years of non-renewal and provides that a previous registration number shall not be reinstated on a new application, so a long lapse means a new number and a new seal.
Which documents must be sealed
Final products created in the public practice of geology. OAR 809-050-0000(3) exempts draft geology or specialty geology products or documents clearly marked as draft. Subsection (4) is the compilation rule: if a stand-alone report is sealed by the registrant responsible for the work, individual work products that registrant prepared and compiled into it, such as geology figures, maps and logs, need not be individually sealed, but products inside the report that were prepared by someone else must be individually sealed by whoever prepared them. Subsection (5) is the one that catches field staff: “Final geology work products not included in a compiled report, such as boring logs, shall be individually sealed and signed.” Subsection (6) requires the registrant who seals and signs a final version to be in responsible charge of its geology content.
Electronic and digital seals
OAR 809-050-0005(2) accepts an electronic or digital signature “as allowed by ORS 84.001 to 84.064,” Oregon’s general electronic transactions statute, with four criteria in subsection (3): unique to the registrant, under the registrant’s direct control, verifiable, and including the registrant’s expiration date immediately preceded by the word Expires. Subsection (4) requires each displayed copy and each hard copy printed from a transmitted or stored electronic document to bear the seal and the signature. Subsection (5) is the tamper rule: if the document is altered in any manner, “the seal is no longer valid and the document can no longer be considered prepared or approved by or under the direction of a Registered Geologist.” No certificate authority is named, unlike the engineering and surveying chapter.
Renewal, lapse and retirement
Oregon geology registration renews annually, not biennially, under OAR 809-015-0000, with the renewal date being the last day of the month of the initial date of issuance. Because OAR 809-050-0005(1) requires the expiration date to be written below the seal, that figure changes every single year, which is the strongest argument for keeping the date off the die and writing it by hand. A lapsed registration may be restored within five years under OAR 809-015-0005 on payment of the missed annual fees, the current fee and the late fee. Past five years it cannot be restored at all, and OAR 809-015-0010(3) adds a consequence that matters for the device: “Upon application to the Board for a new registration, a previous registration number shall not be reinstated.” A new number means a new seal.
Firm requirements
Not applicable. OAR chapter 809 contains no business registration, firm permit or certificate of authorization for geology practices, and ORS 672.505 to 672.705 creates none. The seal and signature attach to the individual registrant, and OAR 809-050-0000(6) fixes responsibility on the registrant in responsible charge of the geology content. Within Oregon this puts geologists alongside engineers and land surveyors, who also have no firm permit, and apart from architects and landscape architects, whose boards do register firms.
What to check before you order
Ask the board for the correct exhibit before you order, because OAR 809-050-0000 refers to Exhibit 1 for a Registered Geologist and Exhibit 2 for a Certified Engineering Geologist and neither is printed in the rule. Specify at least 1.5 inches point to point, and do not let a supplier build you the 2 inch seal Oregon requires of engineers and surveyors. The face carries your name, your certificate number and your registration title. Do not have your expiration date engraved; you write it by hand under the seal after the word Expires, and it changes annually. Leave the center open enough to sign across in permanent ink. Buy a matching electronic image if you issue digital deliverables.
Browse geologist stamps and seals.
Frequently asked questions
Is a geologist seal required in Oregon?
Yes. OAR 809-050-0000 opens with “A facsimile of a registrant’s seal shall be affixed to final products created in the public practice of geology,” and subsection (1) requires a Registered Geologist to use a seal bearing the name, certificate number and registration title as shown in Exhibit 1. The board’s own guidance states the same duty: the stamp is required on every final geology product created as part of your public practice.
What size is an Oregon geologist seal?
At least 1.5 inches in diameter from point to point, under OAR 809-050-0000(1) for the Registered Geologist and subsection (2) for the Certified Engineering Geologist. Do not let a supplier build you the 2 inch seal Oregon requires of engineers and surveyors, which comes from a different board’s rule.
What goes on the face?
Your name, your certificate number and your registration title, arranged to the board’s exhibit for your credential. The expiration date does not belong on the die, because you write it by hand under the seal each time and it changes annually.
Do I really write Expires under every seal?
Yes. OAR 809-050-0005(1) requires the word “Expires” followed by your registration expiration date directly below the seal, as a separate mark from the signature across the seal. An electronic or digital signature substitutes under subsection (2) and must still include the expiration date immediately preceded by the word Expires.
Do boring logs have to be sealed?
Individually, if they travel on their own. OAR 809-050-0000(5) says “Final geology work products not included in a compiled report, such as boring logs, shall be individually sealed and signed.” A log handed to a client or an agency by itself is a final product.
What about figures and logs inside a report I sealed?
Subsection (4) is the compilation rule. If a stand-alone report is sealed by the registrant responsible for the work, individual work products that registrant prepared and compiled into it, such as geology figures, maps and logs, need not be individually sealed. Products inside the report that someone else prepared must be individually sealed by whoever prepared them.
Do I seal drafts?
No, if they are marked. OAR 809-050-0000(3) exempts draft geology or specialty geology products or documents clearly marked as draft. Subsection (6) requires the registrant who seals and signs a final version to be in responsible charge of its geology content.
How does electronic sealing work in Oregon?
OAR 809-050-0005(2) accepts an electronic or digital signature “as allowed by ORS 84.001 to 84.064,” with four criteria in subsection (3): unique to the registrant, under the registrant’s direct control, verifiable, and including the expiration date immediately preceded by the word Expires. Subsection (4) requires each displayed copy and each hard copy printed from a transmitted or stored electronic document to bear the seal and the signature. No certificate authority is named, unlike the engineering and surveying chapter.
What happens if the document is altered?
The seal stops meaning anything. OAR 809-050-0005(5) provides that if the document is altered in any manner, “the seal is no longer valid and the document can no longer be considered prepared or approved by or under the direction of a Registered Geologist.”
Could a lapse cost me my registration number?
Yes, after five years, and that is the reason this matters for the seal. Registration renews annually, with the renewal date being the last day of the month of the initial date of issuance. A lapsed registration may be restored within five years under OAR 809-015-0005 on payment of the missed annual fees, the current fee and the late fee. Past five years it cannot be restored at all, and OAR 809-015-0010(3) provides that “Upon application to the Board for a new registration, a previous registration number shall not be reinstated.” A new number means a new seal.
Does an Oregon geology firm need a registration?
No. OAR chapter 809 contains no business registration, firm permit or certificate of authorization for geology practices, and ORS 672.505 to 672.705 creates none. The seal and signature attach to the individual registrant, and OAR 809-050-0000(6) fixes responsibility on the registrant in responsible charge of the geology content. Within Oregon that puts geologists alongside engineers and land surveyors, and apart from architects and landscape architects, whose boards do register firms.
